"First-rate" --Ashok nayak

Director Abbas Mustan have churned out thrillers like 'Baazigar', 'Ajnabee', 'Humraaz', 'Aitraaz' to name a few.They are the masters when it comes to thrillers. 'Naqaab' is another romantic thriller from the stable of this director duo. After 'Humraaz', Abbas Mustan, Akshay Khanna and Bobby Deol team up again, also introducing model Urvashi Sharma as an actress.

'Naqaab' is not just another love triangle, but a twisted thrilling love story. The movie does have a lot of suspense in it but does the movie actually stand up to being the most thrilling love story of the year? Well, not quite.

This is how the story goes...
Karan (Bobby Deol) is a multi millionaire who falls in love with a middle-class gorgeous girl Sophie (Urvashi Sharma). Sophie, a girl of self-will, in spite of being the love of Karan's life works at a burger house to earn her living. Being with Karan, Sophie had love, happiness, riches and glamour that she never dreamt of possessing. Here we are introduced to our second hero Vicky (Akshaye Khanna). Vicky a middle-class charming young man aims to become an actor, but fails and is out of work. He meets Sophie at a beach resort. A dance at the resort sweeps both of them off their feet . Despite being engaged, Sophie starts falling in love with Vicky because of his witty and winning talks and actions. Karan is unaware of the relationship that is blossoming between Sophie and Vikram.

Well this sounds like a usual love triangle, a girl trapped between two men. But that's not all what 'Naqaab' has in store for us. Besides all this, there is a fourth person who is monitoring all the three characters. There is something that creates turmoil in the lives of the three. Slowly the story is unmasked and the true faces come to limelight. Is Vicky the only reason behind the split of Karan and Sophie? Is he the only baddie? Is Karan the right man for Sophie? Are the characters the same as they appear? 'Naqaab' conceals different intentions.

The concept chosen by Abbas-Mustan for Naqaab is excellent but the execution fails. The story is dealt in an unusual way, something unique but feeble. The first half of the movie has almost nothing unique or thrilling, most of the sequences are completely predictable. The movie provokes no emotions. The beep that is heard every time the fourth person shoots the activities of these characters is annoying. One could also easily guess the man behind all the suspense, but the intention remained unknown. The ending was different but not convincing. The repeated twists in reaching the ultimate climax has probably never been employed in any Bollywood film before. The approach is interesting but the result not convincing. The setting of the award ceremony evidently appeared unrealistic. And when did human blood become thinner like water and the color so light?

Cinematography is excellent. The locales of Dubai have been captured well. Music was satisfactory.

Bobby Deol looks the character he's been asked to portray but he is not spontaneous. Overall Bobby is good but his expression seems forced. Akshay Khanna's acting is first-rate. The chemistry that he shares with Urvashi is electric. Urvashi is confident throughout. She looks gorgeous and her performance is exceptional for a debutant. She still needs to work on her dialogue delivery. Some homework will increase her chances of pushing towards the top league.

Raj Zutshi is wasted. Vikas Kalantri and Vishal Malhotra are alright.

Overall, 'Naqaab' breaks the promise of being the most thrilling love story of the year. With an interesting and unique theme, the movie fails to be captivating.



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